1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rack for holding four packs of different sized plastic bags of the type having an upper disposable portion and a lower bag portion. The present invention further comprises at least one L shaped support member designed to support the bottoms of the plastic bags while being loaded.
2. Description of the Related Art
In supermarkets and other retail outlets, there is frequently the need for consumers or store employees to place items in bags to facilitate handling and purchase. For example, produce bags are dispensed directly to customers wherein the customer can bag produce as it is chosen for purchase. Also, in deli or meat departments, store employees place meats and other deli products in bags for the consumer. Further, in bakery departments, store employees place the selected bakery products in bags for the consumer. In the prior art, there are a number of designs for dispensing bags for these purposes.
Roll mounted produce bags or loose bags are commonly found in modern grocery stores and supermarkets. The roll bags are designed for customers to use when purchasing fresh produce; typically, the loose bags are used by other departments, including bakery packaging. The bags currently available are difficult for customers to use for several reasons. First, the bags tend to cling together and are difficult to separate from the roll. Second, is difficult to tell the open end of the bags from the closed end of the bag. Third, the bags are difficult to open as the sides tend to cling together due to static. Fourth, sometimes all of the bags are of the same size, limiting the user's ability to choose different sized bags. Fifth, with loose bags, the user has to continually bend down to pick up single bags from the boxes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,833, commonly owned by applicant, discloses a dispensing assembly for supporting packs of plastic bags. The packs of plastic bags include a disposable upper portion connected to a lower bag portion. This patent shows dispensing assemblies for supporting two and three packs of plastic bags. With these dispensing assemblies, if packs of different sized plastic bags were hung on the dispensing assemblies, the visual presentation would be disorganized and would not be acceptable.
Thus, there are a number of shortcomings with the known rolls of plastic bags, packs of plastic bags and loose plastic bags. A common problem with bag dispensing systems is providing different sized bags to the user in a visually appealing fashion and in a manner that increases packaging efficiency.